Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an anonymous two way communications system and method and, more particularly, to a communications system and method for rendering the sender of incoming calls, texts or other types of messages anonymous before forwarding same to the intended recipient, and allowing the recipient to respond to the original sender without knowing the identity of the sender.
Related Art
When a problem arises in many organizations, a report of the problem generally passes up the chain of command for consideration and possible action. For example, a worker may tell a supervisor about a malfunctioning machine, or that certain materials are running low. Such issues are typically reported fairly quickly, in part because they rarely involve much apprehension on the part of the person reporting the problem. Therefore, organizational management typically becomes aware of these types of standard problems fairly quickly, which allows for a fast response by the organization.
However, in some circumstances, members of an organization may feel uncomfortable reporting some problems. For example, if the problem relates to a superior of the person who would be reporting the problem, such as a worker's boss, the worker may be hesitant to report the problem for fear of reprisal. Alternatively, if the problem relates to a peer of the person reporting the problem, such as a classmate of a student, the student may similarly hesitate to report the problem for fear of being considered a “tattletale” or “snitch.” Similarly, the problem may be a personal problem such as depression or suicidal thoughts, about which the person is embarrassed or scared, and fears that others may find out. Organizations, such as schools and businesses, often have a difficult time identifying and fixing issues such as bullying, harassment, etc. The people involved are often slow to report the problems, if the problems are ever reported at all.
Many organizations attempt to alleviate these issues by setting up call centers, hotlines, email addresses, etc., which purportedly allow members of the organization to send messages to management impersonally. While such techniques may have more success than implementing nothing at all (which thereby requires an in-person report of the problem), many people still feel uncomfortable reporting some problems via these methods. The call centers and email addresses are often hosted within the organization, such that the organization keeps a record of the telephone number of the incoming call or the email address of the incoming email. People are generally aware that with fairly minimal effort, someone within the organization could trace the source of the reporting call/email. As such, in reality, these call centers and email addresses often fail to alleviate any of the concerns which prevent people from reporting problems. Further, if the organizations were to actually ensure that no record of the source of the incoming message is kept, there is substantially no way for the management of the organization to seek further information from or report a resolution to the sender of the message.